Newswise — IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Idaho National Laboratory has added three esteemed experts to its National and Homeland Security Strategic Advisory Committee. The newest members are Sue Gordon, John Kelly and Chris Stewart, who have had extensive and notable roles in safeguarding United States national security. They join a committee that includes experts in the fields of defense policy, energy security, nuclear nonproliferation, military special operations, intelligence and cybersecurity. The committee provides an external peer review and advises leadership and staff members responsible for executing the laboratory’s national security missions that support the Department of Energy and other U.S. government agencies.

Gordon’s background spans decades in the intelligence community. Most recently she served as the principal deputy director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Prior roles include deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, director of the CIA’s Information Operations Center and senior cyber adviser to the CIA director.

General Kelly retired from the Marine Corps in 2016 after nearly 45 years as both an officer and enlisted Marine. His last duty assignment was as the Commanding General, United States Southern Command. He returned to national service in January 2017 assuming duties as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and then White House chief of staff until 2019 when he left government service. 

Stewart is a record-setting pilot (fastest nonstop flight around the world) and multiple New York Times best-selling author. He served 14 years in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot of rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. From 2013 through 2023, he represented Utah’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Appropriations Committee.

“The expertise that the Honorable Sue Gordon, Gen. John Kelly and Congressman Chris Stewart bring to the table is crucial to our mission,” said Zach Tudor, INL associate laboratory director. “It helps ensure we are making the most of INL’s national security infrastructure, ranges and capabilities.”

INL has supported national security research for nearly 80 years. Tudor leads the lab’s National and Homeland Security mission, which has research capabilities throughout INL’s 890-square-mile research site located west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. INL currently supports national security research programs for DOE, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

To learn more about INL, its National and Homeland Security mission or how having an external review committee contributes to upholding research excellence, visit INL.gov.